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Month: March 2017

“He didn’t smell great, hence rejected.” Said Simran when she was shortlisting executives for marketing in her company.

You can know a lot about someone’s personality by the way he or she wears a perfume. And something very terrible if they aren’t wearing at all! Since thousands of years, humans have worked hard to extract beautiful fragrances from flora and fauna and different kinds of other ingredients. Extraction is just not one aspect in the making, but the best perfumes also call for research on human behavior, demographics, cultures and a lot more.

Over the years, people have been investing largely in the beauty and wellness for themselves. Perfumes to be particular stand as a top priority in the list. As per a study, the global market for fragrances in 2016 was estimated to be USD 40.1 billion. This statistic tells us about the usage level among people and the significance. Companies engaged in making fragrances, perfumes and scents are working hard every day to bring something new to the consumers.

Not only on international grounds but also, within India, there is a huge demand for fragrances, essential oils, and perfumes. The growth of perfume industry has been steady in the last five years. A huge importance is growing towards self-grooming and personality development that drives people to buy perfumes. Currently, the Indian perfume industry is estimated at Rs. 2000 crores and it has been estimated that it will grow Rs 3000 crores in coming 5 years.

Among various industry leaders, Ultra International Limited is widely known in the perfume industry (across the globe). Strategically located in New Delhi, the company is extensively engaged in making and selling fine fragrances and many other kinds for:

Air Care

Personal Care

House Hold

Oral Care

Aromatherapy

Pic courtesy – Google

Being a leader in the industry since 1929, the company is a name to reckon with in India and overseas. It owns a massive plant in Sahibabad in Ghaziabad and it is taken care by highly experienced scientists, fragrance experts, and several highly skilled human resource.Talking to Mr. Parsenjit Majumdar, Director, Marketing, Ultra, he shares, “We believe in following rightful methods of extraction in a hygienic environment. Our seasoned team knows how to systemically exploit aromatic plants in our advanced labs. Efforts like these have high possibilities to enhance the usage of plants and resultantly escalate the economy.”

The team takes ardent care in areas like raw material aggregation, environment, storage and other parameters. Right from agro-climatic condition to hygiene and safety measures, every detail is kept in mind. In a country that is humid, and has a working class as a majority, perfumes are a blessing in disguise for many. Companies like Ultra are tirelessly working towards bringing new fragrances to people and make them feel confident about themselves.

I remember reading “Beauty and the Beast” as a child and later watching Bangla telefilm on the same as a teenager. The story has always kept in awe with the concept of falling for a beast. Recently, I watched “Beauty and the Beast”, a 3D Hollywood movie as an adult.

Directed by Bill Colldon and starred by Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, the movie was a mélange of pretty colors, pleasing music and good pace. My faith in love, love stories and fairytale has been restored – Beauty and the Beast has cast that kind of spell on me. Nothing but a piece of art – the movie is a treat to eyes to anybody who has an affinity for literature, poetry, art, humor and old world charm. I felt, I watched a painting in motion in 3D.

Emma plays the role of a little girl named ‘Beauty’ living in a small village Villeneuve in Northern Italy. She is a petite and fearless beauty loves reading, dots her artist father, and is admired by villagers and envied by a few. She is nothing but a pretty picture full of poems, songs, books and self-realizing questions.

Lot of effort has been put in the dialogues and monologues, as they seemed straight out of literary books. Songs are like breath of this film and they have blended so well with the plot.

Due to situations, Beauty’s father lands up in a desolated castle. The hauntingly beautiful, the palace is an abode to the ‘Beast’, who was once a handsome and charming prince. Cursed by an angel for being arrogant, the prince continues to live in complete isolation in the dusty castle, which has never seen sunlight in years.

Beauty, on being worried about his father’s whereabouts rides her horse to check him out. The story as we know it, is about how she lets go her father and offers herself to the prison, extending affection to the unloved Beast. “Beauty lies within”, one can hear this as the film moves like a painting. Dan Stevens plays the role of a prince who is bearing the brunt of being arrogant – he is the beast. He has love for literature that plays the Cupid’s role and thus, begins a love story, between a beauty and beast. The assurance that Beauty gives while taking care of him makes him fall for her more and more.

Every scene has been taken care of meticulously and the performances delivered by all the actors is class apart. Something that stood apart for me was the humor quotient. The film didn’t fail to give me reasons to smile and chuckle at several intervals.

And if I do not talk about music then I am a sinner. Alan Menken was the music director for “Beauty and the Beast” and he did complete justice with the plot. Listen to the tracks like ‘Be Our Guest’ and ‘Something There’ especially.

Costumes and set design are on point, they take you to an Elizabethan era. Detailing seems to be the key for the director in this section. In all honesty, I would say, this movie was a delight to eyes with no flaws. In a long long time, a movie managed to impress me to this length. Watch it at the theaters to savor the experience.

Like this:

Tattered rags, human excreta on floors, pungent smell across all nooks and an eerie atmosphere everywhere – this may have a resemblance with that of ’10 Days in a mad house’. Who knew that Swati Maliwal will relive the same sequences that Nellie Bly went through 130 years ago. Certainly, nothing has changed since then. Recent Asha Kiran apathy displays the same – a foundation for mentally challenged unfortunately stands like a monster untouched by judiciary.

What went wrong? Gross ignorance? Or bureaucracy? Or laid back attitude? Or simply stars working against humans? Asha Kiran questions every little ethic that we have learnt in our childhood. Approximately 60 million people in India face mental disorders according to a news report in ‘The Indian Express’. It is startling to realize that such a large number of people, who could otherwise have been actively resourceful in some field, are struggling to lead a normal and healthy life. Some of the major psychological problems that people suffer from include – bipolar disorder, depression, Schizophrenia, and anxiety. Some of these problems start from a level when it doesn’t seem alarming. But due to general ignorance about them at first, the symptoms escalate. It is extremely important to take action at an early stage.

In India, people have a tendency to ignore issues around mental illness and psychological problems. There is stigma attached to it so people try and avoid giving attention to it. Going around Indian cities, one may see mentally challenged people walking aimlessly often in filthy conditions. Many of them have been abandoned by their families as their people were either not able to afford the treatment or they didn’t want to face society with a mentally challenged family member.

As per a report featured in The Quint – More than 7 crore mentally ill people live in India and there are less than 4000 doctors to treat them: NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru). Isn’t that a sorry state? It is important to understand why things have screwed up so much?

A complicated lifestyle today demands too much from the common man – a demanding job beyond 9 to 6, a general expectation to put up a happy face round the clock, smartphone driven regime to fit in with society and much more. People are finding it difficult to deal with life transforming every so often. Coping with a fast changing lifestyle demands a lot from the mental stamina of people. Almost the entire younger population is running a race, trying hard to keep pace up with every other social athlete and often collapsing at the threshold.

Is it not possible to recover from this desperate and dismal situation? Asks the mind. Somewhere in this complex life, people are always looking out for good listeners. It is very crucial to listen to each other and understand what is going on within our minds, what is disrupting our peace and fueling our inability to relax. Each condition can be treated provided enough time is given and precautionary measures are taken. If society continues to treat it as taboo, or not a subject for public discussion, there are feeble chances of progress

Even cities are struggling having only a small number of psychiatric treatment and doctors. Imagine the plight of remote villages. Major facilities, which take in mentally challenged, are in disgraceful conditions. The American based Human Rights Watch says that there are places where patients are treated in inhuman conditions.

It is important to concentrate on the most constructive policies and programmes that the government can put in place and most importantly the efforts that families of the affected can put. Families that abandon their mentally challenged member should be helped to take some positive action.

Partha De (Kolkata) is a classic case of a society gone wrong, ignorant of issues within it or just ignoring them. It is a case of abandonment and excessive but irrational emotional attachment with sibling and pets. Patha De was found living with the decomposed body of his sister, charred body of his father, skeletons of his two pet dogs and food scattered around the house. The police officials found him feeding his ‘sister’. Had relatives or neighbors been connected or slightly concerned, possibly such a massive breakdown within a family and the consequence could have been kept at bay. Often such situations arise due to family disputes, sour relationship between parents, loss of a loved one, excessive loneliness, career crisis and other related issues. Partha’s case demonstrates an alarming rise of isolated lives in metropolitan cities.

It comes as a shock that educated people are succumbing to loneliness and they are unable to find good listeners. It is time, that society takes action. We should look around and evaluate if our near and dear ones are doing fine just not physically, but mentally too.

Why not start with those around us. Always check if someone in your circle has suddenly turned quiet, has become fussy with food, has stopped going out etc. These are signs that the person may be gradually sliding in the direction of depression or similar mental disorder. Moreover we should be vigilant about the centres. We need to make sure that apathy and indifference to mentally challenged human beings who are resident in institutions like Asha Kiran shouldn’t repeat again. Only unconditional love, compassion and empathy can bring a person back on tracks of happy life.